Sliding door hanger for mounting on thin doors



May 22, 1956 o. PEARSON 2,746,939

SLIDING DOOR HANGER FOR MOUNTING ON THIN DOORS Filed April 28, 1953 INVENTOR; h 1 w 1 UWH/ x25 BY 0% MM 24 7 My x9 22 20 N ATTORNEY? United States Patent SLIDING DOOR HANGER FGR MOUNTING 0N THIN DOORS Olaf Pearson, West Orange, N. J.

Application April 28, 1953, Serial No. 351,590

6 Claims. (Cl. 16105) This invention relates to sliding door hanger assemblies and more particularly to constructions for use with thin doors.

Many of the sliding door hanger assemblies of the prior art are designed to fit into recesses in the back of the door, and they are held in place by screws extending into the set-back face of the recess. Such a hanger requires that the thickness of the door be at least as great as the depth of recess required for the assembly plus the length of the screws or other fastening means that secure the assembly to the set-back face of the recess.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved sliding door hanger assembly; and more particularly to provide a door hanger assembly which fits into a recess but is held in place by fastenings extending into the face of the door beyond the edges of the recess. This permits the construction to be used with much thinner sliding doors.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive construction for sliding door hanger assemblies, and one which is compact, rugged and easily adjusted.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear or be pointed out as the description proceeds.

In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the views;

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a sliding door hanger assembly embodying this invention, and shown connected to a sliding door; I

Figure 2 is a section view through the door hanger assembly of Figure l Figure 3 is a section view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure l; and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the fixed frame of the door hanger assembly.

The door hanger assembly includes a track engaging element 11, shown as a roller. A slide block can be used instead of a roller. The roller track engaging element turns on an axle 13 secured to the upper end of a bracket 15; and this bracket extends downwardly into a fixed frame 16 between the opposite sides of the fixed frame.

The bracket 15 is connected to the fixed frame 16 by a pivot 18, here shown as a rivet, and the bracket 15 is held in a generally centered position by spacers 20 which are preferably washers placed on the pivot pin 18 when the apparatus is assembled.

The fixed frame 16 has side walls 21 and 22 through which the pivot pin 18 extends. The side wall 21 has its left-hand end portion bent forwardly to provide an end wall24 for the fixed frame. The side wall 22" has its hight-hand end portion bent rearwardly to provide an end wall 25. The end wall 24 has projections 27 which extend through slots in the side wall 22 and these projections are peened or otherwise enlarged to prevent them 2,746,080 Patented May 22, 1956 from pulling back through the slots after the fixed frame has been assembled.

The side wall 21 also has projections 28 extending through slots in the end wall 25, and held against displacement from these slots by peening or other displacement of the metal. Thus, the side walls 21 and 22 with their one-piece, connected end walls 24 and 25, respectively, are permanently connected to make the fixed frame 16 of the assembly.

The side wall 22 has its upper and right-hand edges substantially even with the corresponding edges of the opposing side wall 21; but the side wall 22 extends for a substantial distance beyond the bottom of the side wall 21, and for a substantial distance beyond the end wall 24. The purpose of these extended portions of the side wall 22 is to provide a flange 29 which extends beyond the recess in which the remainder of the fixed frame is located.

Figures 1 and 3 show the way in which the assembly is connected with a door 30. All of the fixed frame 16, except the extended portions of the side wall 22, are located in a recess cut out of the corner of the door, or cut downward from the top of the door. The face of the door 30, along the bottom and the left-hand edge of the recess, is counter-sunk for a depth approximately equal to the thickness of the side wall 22. in some assemblies, this counter-sinking is omitted and the flange 29 is mounted directly against the inside face of the door 30 without counter-sinking. The flange 29 is secured to the inside face of the door by screws 32 which extend through holes 33 in the flange. These screws are the only fastening means necessary for attaching the door hanger assembly to the door.

It will be apparent from Figure 3 that the construction of this invention makes substantially the full thickness of the door 34) available for the fastening means or screws 32. The track engaging element or roller 11 is offset from the bracket 15 so as to locate the roller 11 approximately in the plane with the center of gravity of the door 30, but the same door hanger assembly can be used with doors of lesser thickness because it becomes less unportant to have the roller 11 in the plane with the center of gravity when the door is thinner and lighter than that shown in Figure 3.

The bracket 15 moves into different positions as it swings about the pivot pin 18. Two such positions are shown in Figure 2, one in full lines and the other in dotand-dash lines. This movement is about the axis of the pivot pin 18, but it always has a component of up and down movement. As the roller is moved from the dotand-dash line shown in Figure 2 to the full line position, the door to which the assembly is connected is raised by an amount equal to the vertical distance between the centers of the roller 11 in these different positions.

The bracket 15 is held in any set position, and is shifted from one position to another by an adjusting screw 35. This adjusting screw 35 threads through a sleeve 36 which is secured to the lower end of the bracket 15. In the preferred construction, the sleeve 36 is formed by leaving a tab extending downwardly from the bracket 15 and then bending this tab into substantially cylindrical shape. This makes the sleeve 36 of integral, one-piece construction with the bracket 15 and provides an inexpensive method of manufacture.

In order to obtain a narrower assembly, in which the clearance between the side walls 21 and 22 is less than the diameter of the sleeve 36, openings 37 are provided in the side walls 21 and 22. These openings provide clearance for the sleeve 36, but the sleeve 36 is preferably limited to a diameter not greater than the distance between the outside faces of the side walls 21 and 22.

The adjustment screw 35 has a round head 38, which may be slotted or provided with an Allen-head recess.

This head 38 is wider than the space between the side walls 21 and 22 of the fixed frame, and there are slots 44 provided in the side walls 21 and 22 for receiving the head 33 of the adjusting screw. These slots permit rotation of the screw 35, but they prevent movement of the screw in the directions of its longitudinal axis. Rotation of the screw 35, therefore, causes the sleeve 36 to move along the screw, one way or the other, depending upon the direction of rotation. This movement of the sleeve 36 along the screw 35 causes the bracket to swing around the axis of the pivot pin 18.

The angular movement of the bracket 15, as it swings about the axis of the pivot pin 18, causes angular movement of the screw 35, as indicated by the solid and dotted line positions of the screw 35, in Figure 2. The slots 41) are made long enough and are properly shaped to permit the necessary movement of the head 38 as the screw 35 changes its angular position in the fixed frame.

in order to provide access for a screwdriver to the head 38, there is an opening 42 (Figure 4) provided in the end wall of the fixed frame. This opening is preferably elongated in a vertical direction to permit the screwdriver to be inserted at different angles in accordance with the angular position of the adjusting screw 35. When the hanger assembly is located in a recess which is not at the end of the door, an opening through the wood of the door must be provided beyond the opening 42 of the frame to permit the insertion of a screwdriver to adjust the hanger.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my abandoned patent application, Serial No. 318,154, filed November l, 1952.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, but changes and modifications can be made and some features of the invention can be used in different combinations, without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A sliding-door-hanger assembly including a bracket having a track engaging element at its upper end and having a fixed frame at its lower end to which the bracket is fastened by a movable connection extending between side walls of the frame and on which the bracket moves with an up-and-down component of motion with respect to the frame, said frame having its side walls spaced from one another and end walls extending between the side walls, each of the end walls being of one piece construction with one of the side walls and being connected to the other side wall to form a rigid frame, and adjustment mechanism for shifting the bracket with respect to the fixed frame including a screw carried by the fixed frame and contacting with the bracket, all of the adjusting mechanism being enclosed between the side walls of the assembly and extending in a position to be accessible for adjustment through an opening in one of the end Walls of the frame, the side wall which is of one piece construction with the end wall having said opening therein extending below the remainder of the fixed frame and having its end which is remote from its one piece end wall extending for a substantial distance beyond the other end wall to provide a flange for covering the face of the door around a recess into which the fixed frame is inserted.

2. A sliding door hanger assembly including a track engaging element, a bracket by which the track engaging element is carried, a fixed frame for connection to a door, the fixed frame having side walls which are an integral part thereof and one of which is of substantially greater extent than the other for overlapping the face of a door beyond a recess in which the remainder of the frame is located, the extending portion of the larger side wall including means for receiving fastening elements to connect the assembly to the door, a connection extending between the side Walls and supported from at least one of the side walls and by which the bracket is secured to the fixed.

frame and on which the bracket swings with an up-and- 4 down component of motion with respect to the fixed frame, mechanism for moving the bracket on its connection to the frame including an adjustable screw movable into different positions and threaded into an opening in the bracket, a rotatable connection between the screw and the fixed frame including means to prevent longitudinal movement of the screw with respect to the fixed frame, the screw being angularly movable relative to the frame as the bracket moves about said connection of the bracket to the frame and the frame having clearance for such movement of the screw, all of the adjusting mechanism, including said screw, being located between the side walls of the fixed frame.

3. A sliding door hanger assembly including a track engaging element, a bracket by which the track engaging element is carried, a fixed frame for connection to the door, the fixed frame havin spaced side Walls which are an integral part thereof and each of which has a slot therein, a pivot by which the bracket is connected to the fixed frame, an internally threaded sleeve connected to the bracket, an adjusting screw threading through the sleeve and having a head which projects, on opposite sides, into said slots in the side walls of the fixed frame, said slots being of limited width to prevent movement of the screw head in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the screw, but said slots being of sufficient length to accommodate the angular movement of the screw head as the bracket with its sleeve shifts the angular position of the screw during rotation of the bracket about the axis of the pivot.

4. A sliding door hanger assembly including a fixed frame having spaced side walls, a track engaging element, a bracket secured to said track engaging element and extending downwardly into the fixed frame between the side walls, a pivot by which the bracket is connected to the fixed frame for movement with respect to the fixed frame about the axis of the pivot, an adjusting screw threaded through aportion of the bracket, a head located at one end of the adjusting screw and of a diameter larger than that of the adjusting screw and larger than the spacing between the side walls of the fixed frame, each of said side walls having a slot therein through which the head of the screw extends, the edge faces of the slots serving as abutments for preventing movement of the screw head in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the screw when the screw is rotated in a direction to raise a door to which the hanger assembly is connected.

5. A door hanger comprising a frame that has side walls and that fits into a recess at the top of a door with which the hanger is intended to be used, means for connecting the frame to a door, a bracket pivotally connected to a side wall of the frame and extending above the upper end of the frame, an axle carried by the upper end of the bracket, above the frame, a wheel on the axle for supporting the door to which the hanger is adapted to be attached, the pivotal connection for the bracket being horizontally spaced from a vertical line through the mid portion of the wheel, a screw sleeve at the bottom of the bracket, and an adjusting screw threading through the sleeve, the adjusting screw having a head located between the side walls of the frame and of greater width than the distance between the side Walls, a portion of said head extending into an opening in at least one of the side walls, the opening being shaped so that the screw head can move angularly in accordance with changes in the angular position of the screw as the bracket and screw sleeve rock about said pivotal connection.

6. A door hanger comprising a hollow frame for rigid connection to a sliding door, the frame having side walls spaced from one another, a track runner, a bracket by which the track runner is carried, a fulcrum pivot connecting the bracket with at least one of the side walls, the bracket being angularly movable about the fulcrum pivot to raise and lower the track runner with respect to the side walls and a door to which they are connected,

a screw sleeve connected to the bracket, an adjusting screw that threads into the screw sleeve, the adjusting screw being located between the side Walls and having a head that engages an opening in at least one of the side Walls, the opening having an edge in position to prevent longitudinal movement of the screw, and the opening being shaped so that the screw head can move angularly in accordance with the changes in the angular position of the screw as the bracket and screw head rock about said fulcrum pivot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Schmid Feb. 12, 1884 Bierbach J an. 30, 1900 Lawrence Mar. 21, 1916 Shectman Feb. 10, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Apr. 14, 1931 

